Dance / Fresh Funk, “The Chocolate Factory”, Erindale Theatre, June 20. Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

FRESH Funk dance school invited the audience to a world of pure imagination, on Sunday night at the Erindale Theatre, for their end-of-semester production.

“The Chocolate Factory” is a contemporary and urban dance reimagining of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory”, the 1971 movie “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory” and Tim Burton’s version with Johnny Depp as the dark and twisty Willy Wonka.

Fresh Funk, under the artistic direction of Leena Wall, have chosen a wonderful theme, giving them a lot of scope for characters, production elements and dance styles.

Whilst the Fresh Funk style is hip hop and contemporary street dance, they included elements of ‘waacking’, a hint of cabaret and a lyrical style of street dance.

Wall and her team have done a remarkable job with the choreography – it is thoughtful, consistently appropriate, clever and appealing. Suitable for the parameters of the production, the choreography was not overtly sexual, which is common for much of this style of dance.

The leads represented teenagers in this production. Charlie Bucket (the program lists the dancers in their groups, not as individual characters) was perfectly cast and gave a fitting, relaxed performance, exuding joy and grace. A strong dancer in his own right, his dance with the younger boys was uplifting and nurturing – a pleasure to see.

Veruca Salt and Violet Beauregarde were impressive dancers. Violet in her velour crop-top and tracksuit, entertained with faultless dancing and her portrayal of the self-obsessed, gum-chewing loud-mouth. Both girls had several dances with their posse, but Veruca’s crew would have packed more punch if attired in similar costumes to hers. Mike TV’s dance with the video-game obsessed boys was both striking and terrifyingly relevant.

The golden ticket winner’s guardians, similarly clad, and all enablers of their child’s downfalls, had dance troupes too. In a world of Insta selfies, “me first” attitudes, greed and screen addiction, the pitfalls of modern society rang true and with the prognostication, almost 60 years ago, of 3D printing, the show gave food (or chocolate) for thought.

With a couple of exceptions, the dancers performed, of course, in their age/experience levels. This was a dictating factor, sometimes at the expense of the overall narrative, dynamics and impact of the production, pulling it between story and dance showcase. The leads not dancing together was notable. And the order of a couple of dances were anti-climactic – the beginning of act two and “Happy”, after Charlie wins his ticket.

A marathon effort is given from the expressive Willy Wonka, who is on stage or dancing for the majority of the show. Having him dance in the back row of some numbers diminished his authority and stance, in a production sense, but demonstrated his engagement and entanglement with the factory workers, including a dance with the super confident, strong and expressive lead of “Sour Candy”, who definitely had some involvement with Willy.

“Bubblegum” and “Throw a Fit” by the senior advanced 1 class popped as impressive dance highlights amongst a show of contemporary songs. The soundtrack, which seemed to include every song ever written about lollies or chocolate, was engaging and recognisable, including songs from Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Tones and I and Die Antwoord. The Junior girls dancing to “Sweet but Psycho” was a little unnerving!

“The Chocolate Factory” used fun, colourful lighting patterns and included a screen with video footage and interviews to emulate the aforementioned movies, adding depth of field and another fun production element. Recognisable sound bites from the movies were a pleasing inclusion throughout the show. Towards the end of the first act and the start of the second, the haze effect had become so extensive that with low lighting and some black costumes, some of the dances were lost in the fog. Some uniformity in costuming for visual cohesion and more distinct styling of the Oompa Loompas was lacking.

In the finale, the dynamic changed entirely and the dancers performed in their own gear, breaking the narrative of “The Chocolate Factory”.

The stage was heaving with dancers and creators at the end of this marathon production – a tremendous effort by all involved and a huge (slightly too long) show to pull together.

In a sweet touch, golden tickets were to be found under the seats of four lucky patrons… redeemable, of course, at the candy bar.